From the Soo to Guelph

Driving across the bridge from the US side of Sault Ste Marie, you can see the lock system on both sides of the bridge.  The "Soo" locks enables large ships to travel between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.  Lake Superior or as the Chippewa call it, Lake Gitche Gumee (meaning "big water") is not only the largest of the Great Lakes, but it is the largest lake in the world containing an eighth of the world's fresh water.  In fact when driving along the shores of the lake it appears to be an ocean as you cannot see from one side to the other.  Superior is 160 miles wide and 350 miles long and as Ray says, you can fit two Vancouver Islands in the space of Superior.  At its deepest point, it measures 1,333 feet  with an average water temperature of 34 degrees F.  Approximately 200 rivers and thousands of streams feet into it.  The only outlet is Saint Mary's River which connect it to Lake Huron. Lake Superior rests in a cradle of ancient precambrian rock on the southern tip of the Canadian Sheild.  The weather can change in an instant from calm to stormy.  There have been many lives lost on this lake with the sinking of ships.  The most famous one is probably the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank during a storm on November 10th 1975 taking all 29 crew members.  Gordon Lightfoot made this so popular with his "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" song which he recorded in December 1975 and released it in August 1976.

A bit of history of the Soo.  Sault Ste Marie is one of the oldest settlements in North America.  At the turn of the 20th century an American business man, Francis H. Clergue came to Sault Ste Marie.  Among things like making a deal with the government to fix the locks in 1895, he also established a dam to bring water to community.  He founded St Mary's Paper Mill (which ran until closing in 2011).  He founded Algoma Steel as well as portions of the Algoma Central Railway.  Clerguue  also discovered iron ore in Wawa Ontario, which was transported via Algoma Centrail Railway to Sault Ste Marie and used in the steel plant.  Algoma Steel  in its heyday employed 16,000.  Algoma is now called Essar Steel and currently employs  4000 people, 1000 of which are office workers.  Essar is the main source of employment for a city of about 75,000 people.  Essar is the 3rd largest steel plant in Canada were they make steel coils and armoured plates for the military.  Catipillar and General Motors are two of their biggest customers.  Francis H. Clergue was clearly a visionary, but one might wonder what vision he had when he kept bears chained up in his yard?  His house is still standing today. on Moffley Hill  but thankfully no bears can be seen in the yard. 

We parked our truck and 5th wheel at Danny's house for the next couple of days.  We met Danny two years ago on the ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia.  He was travelling on his own, having ridden his Harley from Sault Ste Marie to Newfondland.  Last summer he road his bike out to our place and then he, Ray and another guy rode down to Sturgis.  They should have written a blog on that trip!!!  The day after arriving in the Soo Danny took Ray out fishing in his boat onto Lake Superior near the locks.  Ray caught a white fish which Danny cooked up as an appetizer for dinner.  

Danny chillin in the captain chair

 You are probably wondering what I was doing with they were out fishing?  Well I caught up on our laundry and then using the trusty GPS, I made my way to the local mall.  The mall was not large but had the usual handful of stores.  Sears, Bootlegger, Le Chateau, Aldo etc.  The mall reminded me of the Cottonwood Mall in Chilliwack.  I didn't spend a scent.  I was secretly hoping that a Starbucks would appear from nowhere but no such luck.  Have to wait until we get to Guelph for that.  After the guys came back from fishing the three of us washed the truck and trailer.  It took three of us to get the mud off of everything!  Even after that it still could use some more soap and water.  On our 2nd day in the Soo Danny took us around to see some of the sights.  We saw a small local zoo that had two african lions, lynx, coyote, some goats, llamas, ducks, geese and a very sleepy tired bear.  He was so tired that he barely opened his eyes to look at us.  The whole place was sort of sad looking and looked like it could use some tender loving care.  We then went to a lake with a beautiful waterfall called Crystal Falls 

We left Danny's place at 0530 on Saturday morning and had decided that we were going to Manitolin Island and take the ferry from South Baymouth to Tobermorey, which is near Owen Sound.  The ferry which was called the MS Chi-Cheemaun was small in comparison to BC Ferries but on the outside deck there was a couple of rows of colourful Muskoa Chairs.  Looked very pretty but was way to windy to sit in them.  Well for us it was, instead we head to the "lounge" where I had a glass of wine and we talked with a couple of recent retirees from Terrace who have sold their house and taken to the road for 5-6 months of travelling.  The ferry ride across Lake Huron was about 2 hours and was very beautiful.  

We arrived in Guleph around 6:00 PM very tired.  We found our camping spot for the next two weeks at the Conservation Park in Guelph Lake which is about 5 minutes from Riki's house.  After setting up our site, we decided to have an early night and catch up with the kids in the morning.  Sunday morning Riki brought Alisha over and dropped her off to have breakfast with us as she had to pick up Madison from the other Grandparents.   

Montana to Sault Ste Marie Michigan

Ah at last we have some wifi, which of course is at the local Starbucks in Guelph.  Last I wrote we were in Havre Montana and getting ready to go and do some gambling.  Well when we got into "casino" with $20 in hand, there were notes on each of the games saying that if there was a "problem" the person on duty did not have access to open the machines."  So we asked the lone girl working what that meant and she said that if we put money in and it got stuck or if the machine didn't "pay out" she was unable to open the machines to retrieve any monies etc.  That was all we needed to hear, so on that note we decided to sit at the bar and have a couple of brewskies and chat with the girl.  She was very nice and we learned that she had recently moved from Palm Springs California to Havre Montana!  What a culture shock that would have been as there is  basically nothing in Havre with the exception of some dumpy little casinos.  Asking her why she moved there, she said to be with her Man!!!  After we finished our bees, we walked around the campsite.  It was very neat and tidy and set up for basically travels such as us who are only planing on spending one night.  We were talking with a fellow camper who was travelling on his own from Pennsylvania.  He was heading west to go to Washington. He noticed that we were from Canada and asked us how the roads were in Canada.  Were the roads drivable without snow tires?  Some people have no clue about us Canadians!

Anyway the following morning we were up early and set to go.  We pulled out of the campground and continued heading east.  Within about 3 miles we hit road construction.  Well let me tell you, it was a total mud pit!!!  We travelled approximately five miles in this muck.  You probably could hear Ray cursing all the way to Canada!  Our trailer and truck were absolutely filthy!  I have never seen it like that and probably will never see that again.  After driving through that we hit a rain storm like none other.  Who doesn't like a good rain to clear the air, but seriously it was raining so hard that we could only drive 35 miles per hour. The sky was so black and ominous, something out of an old Hitchcock movie.  It was unbelievable!!!  You would have thought that with all that rain the truck and trailer would have come out clean as a whistle. Nope it was still dirty complete with all the dead bugs on the front of the fifth wheel.  They call Montana "big sky country" because all you see for miles and miles are fields of different colours running right into the sky  It is quite beautiful in spots but no I do not want to move there!!!  A sad thing we did notice were all of the roadside memorials.  From Glasgow Montana to the North Dakota border Ray counted 75 roadside memorials.  You might wonder how so many highway deaths could occur when the roads are so straight.  I have no idea, as we wondered the same thing. 

We continued on into North Dakota which is a bit greener and more hilly than Montana.  I much preferred the scenery.  The worst part of North Dakota was going through Williston as there was so much roadwork (but thankfully no rain) and traffic jams everywhere.  It is a large city about 15 miles on the east side of the Montana/North Dakota border and is call Boomtown USA because of the huge oil boom they have been having for a number of years.  This once sleepy farming town is one of the fastest growing towns in America with the arrival of the oil companies showed up.  Hence the name "Boomtown USA".  The population of Williston is approximately 15,000

We continued on Highway 2 through Minot and Rugby, which if you followed our previous blog you may remember that Rugby is the geographical centre of North America.  We stopped there for a bite to eat and got talking to a fellow who told us that when we get into Michigan we should take Highway 28 as it would be a quicker than sticking to Highway 2.  This friendly fellow also told us his daughter and son in law owned a vineyard called St Charles Vineyard and we had to stop and tell her that her Dad was supposed to buy us a glass of wine!!!  We never did see the vineyard.

Ray would like me to add that he has been very good this trip with gassing up on a regular basis.  He hasn't let the tank get below 1/4, which is much easier on my own nerves!!!  I can relax a bit more and work on the "idiot afghan" that I am crocheting.  It is called an "idiot afghan" as apparently it is so easy that even an idiot can make it.  There is really only two stitches, so how can I go wrong?  Anyway while in North Dakota we stopped in a tiny town called Ray (yup, Ray) to gas up.  We pulled into the outside spot which was best with the height of the trailer.  There was a black large SUV parked at the pump with the nozzle sitting in the gas tank. No one appeared to be in the SUV nor around it.  I had to use the facilities so went into the store, which was like a little market where you could purchase some groceries.  I saw a very pregnant young woman's waddling around the store with her shopping basket full of goodies.  When I came out, Ray is standing outside our truck looking a bit miffed.  The black SUV is still sitting there with the gas nozzle hanging out of it.  Looking at the gas pump it appeared that the truck had been filled up but nozzle left in it, so I said that I would go in and see if I could find out who owned the SUV and have them pull ahead.  There were a couple of clerks working the tills and I asked one of them if they could find out who owned the black SUV so we could get it moved ahead.  I saw the pregnant lady at one of the tills, smiled and said hello.  Looking out the window I see the SUV pulling ahead, so I told the clerk not to worry as the truck was leaving.  Out I go as Ray moves our truck forward.  As he used the facilities I pumped in the gas and I am looking in the direction of the SUV which had really just pulled ahead about 50 feet, but did allow us the space we needed.  An older lady got out of the drivers seat,,,,well she was not that old because she was about my age!!  She went around to the passenger side and hopped in.  Then I notice the pregnant lady waddling out of the store and she slowly waddled right over to the SUV and proceeded to put all her groceries inside before getting into the drivers seat and driving away.  I guess she didn't see the sign on the pumps that said "do not leave gas pump unattended when filling or you will be responsible for any spills"! 

We spent the night in the Grand Forks North Dakota which is a town bordering North Dakota and Minnesota and with a population of approximately 53,000 is the third largest city in North Dakota.  Believe it or not there were no campsites off the main highway without having to travel to far off and we were getting tired. As we entered town we spotted a Walmart with two other rigs parked at the edge of the lot.  So we pulled in and looked for "no overnight parking" signs.  Seeing none we pulled in behind one of the trailers.  We figured if we were going to camp for free we best go in and spend some money, so we bought a few groceries.  After having most of our fresh vegetables and fruit taken from us at the border crossing in Wild Horse, we were craving some fresh food!  Marline,,my faith in the Walmart free overnight parking has been restored as we were able to camp all night with no hassles and no one bothered us in the morning as they had years ago in Lake Havesue.

Highway 2 takes you through the northern most part of Wisconsin.  We went through a small town called Iron River.  There really is nothing special to add about this town except that they have an old fashioned A&W drive in restaurant where the waitresses come out to your car and take your order.  The only thing missing is the roller skates!  We did not stop and eat there,,,just saw it while driving through.

Next stop is Grand Rapids  which is located in the centre of Minnesota and is part of Itasca county .  The population is about 12,000.  Gas is so cheap down here in the good old USA.  At $3.59 per gUS gallon Ray says it is just over a $1.00 per litre.  That is why we drive south of the border to cross the country, especially when we are feeding the "Tank" .  About 20 minutes from Grand Rapids we saw a Mama deer and her baby.  The baby was so young it still had the spotted bum!   I am going to assume that the major employer in Grand Rapids is the paper mill just on the outskirts of town.  

We headed north on Highway 28 at Bakerfield Michigan. This highway would eventually take us to the bottom end of Lake Superious.  We passed through Marquette, Munising where we saw the Beer Belly Butt Crack Car Wash.  Didn't stop as we had no idea what kind of a car wash we would end up with. I took the wheel from Ray when we were on Highway 28.  There was miles and miles of National Forests to drive through and very little traffic.  At Munising Ray took the wheel back and we continued into Sault Ste Marie.

We crossed the bridge from Sault Ste Marie Michigan into Sault Ste Marie Ontario at 9:30 last Wednesday night  Stay tuned for Sault Ste Marie Canada on the next post.

Goodbye Kenny

On Thursday left Hinton fairly early as we had about a 5 hour drive to Devon, where my brother Ken had lived with his wife Pam. Driving weather was great, sun was shining. We drove past the turn off for Mayothorpe. Most of you recall  the tragedy in 2005 when four RCMP officers where ambushed while assisting with a Bailiff seizure. These unsuspecting officers were in a Quonset on the property and didn't stand a chance. Yet another incident of police officers killed in the line of duty.

We whizzed through Edson, which is where my nephew and his family live. The population of this little town is about 8700 people.  Edson which lies in the McLeod Valley just east of the foothills of our Canadian Rocky Mountains.  It is named after the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. His name of course was Edson J. Chamberlain. I wonder if they called him "Eddy"? As we were leaving Edson we saw a huge buffalo in a field all by himself (maybe it was a female,,,,we didn't stop and check). I was pretty sure that it was a wild buffalo as it was all alone, but have since been told that it was from a bison farm. What do I know?!

As we are speeding along the highway heading east towards Edmonton, we suddenly hear this funny cow mooing sound. We both looked at each like "what the heck?". Well it turned out to be the GPS mooing at us to let us know that Raytard was speeding!! Apparently it moos when you go 5 mph over the posted speed limit. We had totally forgotten about that funny little feature from our last trip. Now I know exactly when MR Riggins is being a little heavy footed!

We arrived in Devon at the prebook end campground that Pam had booked for us. It was in a beautiful spot beside the Saskatchewan River. Spacious sites and lots of green grass. After setting up we went to Pam's as there was lots of work to do to get ready for Ken's memorial. My sister Joann and her husband Tom were already here from Ontario. While Ray & Tom took a motor home out to the campsite, Pam, Jo and I got busy with food preparations. A few more out of town guests arrived., My sister Christine, friend Sheila and Ken's old friends Steve Findel, Jim and Jane Black. With everyone's help we had the hall set up with tables and chairs in no time at all. We were a tired bunch!

 Here are some photos of the group of us who had come out for the Celebration of Life...

Sheila and my sister Christine

My sister Jo (on the right) and sister-in-law Pam

 Ray and Pam

 Pam and her bestie Cindy

Travis, Del, Dylan and Chera

 Pam and our Kenny

The memorial for my brother Ken was very well done. His wife Pam, did an amazing job in the preparation of the whole event but her composure during the speech she gave was commendable. Her strength is amazing. I know that I would not be able to hold myself together in her shoes. Both of my sisters got up and spoke of their memories of Ken as did their husbands. Pam's daughter Stephanie also did a great job with the media presentation. The last part of the presentation was the scattering of Ken's ashes from a glider plane over Arizona which holds a special place in Ken and Pam's hearts. Pam's daughter Danielle scattered them into the wind with the song "Freebird" by Lynard Skynard. Very emotional day it was! Rest in Peace dear Kenny as you are now free like a bird.

We left Devon yesterday (Sunday) after a busy weekend. We drove down to Erskine to visit with Ray's Auntie Eva.

 We had planned on stopping for coffee and then heading down to Medicine Hat where we would camp for the night. But no, when your 84 year old Auntie wants you to spend the night,you do so! We had a great visit and went for dinner before going to bed early.  This morning Auntie Eva fed us breakfast before heading off to Medicine Hat where we now had to stop and have lunch with Auntie Jean. I fell off of the wheat free wagon for lunch as you just can't explain to someone in their 80's who just made salmon sandwiches and also home baked cookies that you don't eat bread. You just can't!! Yup had a cookie or two also. Oh and a glass of wine!! And yes it all tasted delicious!

This is Auntie Jean in Medicine Hat,,,

Today we drove through parts of the Canadian Badlands. I wondered what that actually meant so I  googled it.  The badlands are a type of terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They can represent volcanic rock, canyons, hoodoos, and other such rocks. Around places like Drumheller the terrain is very layered in appearance. It is actually quite beautiful!

We are in Havre tonight and are going to do a wee bit of gambling. I do have some photos but cannot add them from my iPad. So maybe the next blog entry will be a photo only page!

Tomorrow we continue east into North Dakota.

Alberta Bound

After a trip into Vancouver to see my doctor on Tuesday morning, we finally were hooked to the truck and ready to go.  We pulled out of the yard at about 2:15, which considering our morning was not too bad.  We were very happy to be on the road and heading east.  Of course when we got to Hope, we had to stop and grab a Tim Horton's for the road.  This is the first really big trip for this truck so we were excited to see how it would do on the Coquihalla, especially going through the snow shed and up that first long hill.  The truck did very well and Ray is pleased with the performance.  In the area of the Britton Creek Rest area, we spotted a young moose and a young deer having a late lunch together on the side of the road.  I was actually amazed to see them so close together.  About 30 feet apart from each other.  I guess I just never thought that these two creatures would be tolerant of each other.

After a pit stop in Merritt to get rid of that darn Tim Horton's, we took highway 5A which is the road through Quilchena and around Nicola Lake.  It was a beautiful drive.  We arrived in Kamloops at Ron and Mary Friesen's where we had planned on spending the night.  They have the best spot for parking an RV, complete with sewer, water and electrical!  Mary had dinner ready when we arrived and after a great visit we had an early night.  Ron and Mary's place backs onto the Kamloops Wild Life Park, which has some interesting sounds coming from it during the night.  None of which kept us awake, but it sure was different being woken up by a peacock rather than a robin, crow or whatever kind of birds come into our yard in Mission.  After a shower and a great breakfast compliments of Ron & Mary we were on our way once again by about 10:15.

Leaving Kamloops, we took Highway 5 which takes us through McLure, Barriere and Louis Creek.  It too is a beautiful drive, but one cannot overlook the beauty and forget the devastating forest fire in August 2003.  That hot dry summer a forest fire ripped through this area almost destroying the small towns.  Seventy two homes and nine business were lost.  3800 people were evacuated.  The mill in Louis Creek was destroyed putting everyone out of work.  As you drive through the area today you can see the charred trees on the mountain side, but there is a carpet of bright green grass on the old forest floor.  The valley itself is peaceful and the townsfolk who could move back; have settled into their daily lives once again.  So when you are out camping this summer wherever you are in our beautiful Province, please remember to be mindful of any campfires you may have and IF you are a smoker,,,,,please do NOT toss out that cigarette from your moving vehicle.  Think of all the animals and/or townsfolk you may displace by a thoughtless action.

We saw so much beautiful scenery along the way today.  Rivers, lakes, valleys etc.  Nothing was more impressive though than when we rounded a curve in the road and came upon the beautiful Mt Robson.  At 12,972 feet it is the 2nd highest mountain that is in BC alone (meaning it doesn't border another Province or State). Yup it is all ours and we can be proud of that fact!  Maybe we do not have oil like Alberta does, be we do have this beautiful mountain!

We followed Highway 16 into Alberta.  The highways themselves have been very well maintained with one noticeable exception and any who travels the Coquihalla on a regular basis will agree.  The lines on our highways are terrible.  Can you really call them lines when you can't really see anything….you just know they should be there!  If you travel often enough you might know when the highway goes from two lanes to three lanes, or when it is time to merge back to two lanes.

On entering Wild Rose Country we have decided that our two Provinces (BC and Albert)  must purchase the same cheap paint for line painting from the same manufactures!  The lines were barely visible!  I feel bad for all the tourists travelling here from other countries. It is bad enough that they are renting motorhomes in a strange country and driving on the wrong side of the road in some cases, but how do they even keep themselves on the roads?? Enough said about that as we all know the financial restraint that each Province is always on,,,,and how important are the highways anyhow?.

Jasper.  Mmmmm what do I think about Jasper. Well we arrived at the junction to Jasper off Highway 16 at about 3:30.  Ray was feeling a bit sleepy so I suggested we pull into Jasper take a walk around the town and have a Starbucks.  We pulled into Jasper which is quite a bit different in appearance than Banff.  Seems to have more residential then commercial compared to Banff, or maybe it is just laid out differently. While Ray is navigating the truck and dodging pedestrians, I am scanning the storefronts looking for a Starbucks or a similar coffee joint.  We could not find any on the main drag so went up and down the "side" streets.  No Starbucks or Tim Horton's did we see!  I mean really,,,,, Starbucks I can see because we are now out of BC,,,,,,,,but Tim Horton's????  We are still in Canada aren't we?  We did spot a sign that said "Espresso",,,, so parking the truck and 5th wheel, we both get out anticipating a smooth yummy non-fat latte.  I mean we were almost drooling!  Ray puts his hand on the door to open it for me (what a gentleman!!).  Door wouldn't budge.  The store was closed.  Locked up tight!  Arg!!!  So my initial thoughts on Jasper were not good as I really was craving a latte.  But all is not lost in this story, because I,  in my wisdom had bought some Starbucks Espresso before leaving home and brought our cappuccino machine,,,,,, just in case!  So we decide to continue on to Hinton where we were going to camp for the night, where I would brew us up a beautiful not so nonfat latte (added Baileys to it). Lori is in her happy place one again!!!  Before I move on with this I must say that while sitting here with my homemade cup of joy, and on Googling Tim Horton's in Jasper,  I discovered that there is in fact a Tim Horton's on Patricia Street in Jasper so I am once again restored in that fact that I am still truly in Canada!

Jasper is truly a picturesque little town nestled in the Athabasca River Valley.  It is not far from the Icefields Parkway where you can stop at the Columbia Icefield Interpretive Center and board an ice explorer which will take you up onto the Athabasca Glacier where the ice is supposedly as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall!  One thing that you really need to do when driving through Jasper National Park is follow the speed limits as you just never know when you might turn a corner and find some bighorn sheep standing or lying beside the road!

Tonight we are in Hinton at a KOA Kampground.  Tomorrow we head to Devon where we will help my sister-in-law Pam, however we can to get ready for my brother Ken's Celebration of Life on Friday.

Take care,,,, and check back soon.

Lori and Ray

Packing up and heading out…..

It is once again time for Ray and I to head out on yet another adventure.  Two years ago we did the cross Canada trek going all the way to Newfoundland and heading back through the good old United States of America. This year we will only be going as far as Guelph Ontario, where we will spend some time visiting with family along the way.  We will cross into the US of A most likely in Niagara Falls, where we will sight see our way west.  We do have a "plan" in our heads, but as we like to "fly by the seat of our pants" and see where our GPS will take us,  I won't spoil the fun.  I am busy getting the "office" space in the truck ready which will have my trusty 10 pound oath America camping guide, GPS, maps (because everyone knows that we cannot rely totally on GPS) and of course the ever faithful laptop. We are busy also loading the 5th wheel.  How many pairs of shoes will I need to take for this trip……that is the question!

You may be wondering about the name of this blog…. Ray and Lori's Accidental Shenanigans?  Where would we get that name from?  Does it really make any sense at all?  Well I had been trying to think of a different name with a bit of a catch that we could call this second big adventure of ours.  I couldn't think of anything at all.  My retired mind was at a stale mate.  Having coffee one morning with Debbie Parry at my favourite haunt (Starbucks), I mentioned that I was having trouble thinking of something.  Debbie came up with "Shenanigans"  One of the meanings of shenanigans is "high-spirited or mischievous activities"and anyone who followed our last trip could possibly say that we did have a few mischievous events, most of those involved Ray of course.  It is never about me!!  Ray came up with the "Accidental" portion of the title and of course one meaning of this is "occurring unexpectedly or by chance".  Now can you see why I chose this title?

So follow along with us as we travel and see what kind of crazy shenanigans we find ourselves in.  I will try to once again, make this blog a entertaining and for those who followed our last "Bogus Adventure";  Ray has promised me there will be not  be any "gas" related stories.  Time will tell!!!    
So stay tuned!